HSBC mortgage change could help zero hours contract workers get on housing ladder

Improvements include reducing the amount of continuous employment required with the same employer from two years to one year, plus replacing the requirement to produce two years’ P60 statements with the latest P60. In order to have greater visibility of current earnings and produce a more accurate affordability assessment, the last three payslips will be required instead of one. Aaron Shinwell, the head of mortgages and savings at HSBC UK, explains: “A lot has been said about ‘zero hours’ contracts over the last few years, much of it giving the impression they are inherently bad.

“The reality is that a significant number of people – approaching two million contractors working an average of 25 hours a week – are on zero hours contracts, and rely on them for their income. The flexibility suits their lives and their lifestyle, and their needs shouldn’t be ignored.

“What we have done is take on board feedback that certain requirements and documentation were hindering their chances of getting onto the property ladder, or remortgaging, with us, and as such our attractive mortgages were not really an option. These improvements will benefit all agency workers.”

HSBC UK has also made its mortgage application process easier to make obtaining a mortgage simpler and quicker reducing the time an offer takes from five weeks to around ten days or five if done through a branch adviser.

Mr Shinwell added: “For those on an SVR with us or a different provider, moving to a fixed rate will provide certainty for the next two, three or five years over what they will be paying every month, giving people one less thing to worry about when there could be some economic turbulence on the horizon.”